Month Two At Highgroove

Because Highgroove is growing, I am no longer the newest employee, though having been on the job only about two months now, I still feel pretty new.

I came to Highgroove after leaving a developer position at a large company. The decision to leave was not an easy one to make, but I decided I needed a change to fully realize my goals.

When I updated my résumé in preparation for a new job search, I listed several of these goals. I am happy to say even at this early stage, Highgroove is matching up well with them. I explain more after the break.

Specializes in web and/or mobile development: Highgroove’s specialty is web development, specifically with Ruby on Rails. I have been working on an application programming interface (API) that drives an intranet type application for a large retailer. So far, it has been a blast. I am quickly coming up to speed on many interesting technologies and tools like MongoDB, Redis and Solr.

Small: Highgroove is growing, but it is definitely still a small company. While I am working remotely (more on that later), I already know all of my coworkers, and there is no bureaucracy to get in the way of me producing results for our customers.

Made up of smart and passionate people: It is humbling to be listed alongside the other folks who work here. That said, everyone has been incredibly gracious at helping me come up to speed. We learn from one another through code reviews, tech demos, and sharing interesting articles in our Skype chatroom.

Allows for reasonable autonomy: Highgroove is a results only work environment. One of the most striking benefits of this work philosophy is that physical location is largely unimportant. I am moving to Atlanta soon, but since I started in February I have been working from my current home in Huntsville, Alabama. In fact, all of Highgroove is physically scattered right now because we are moving to a new, yet-unfinished office. However, we are still meeting results and that is all that matters!

In summary, the transition has been something like drinking from a fire hose, though it is also exactly what I wanted. I relate 100% to the last sentence in Emily’s first month post: “There’s still a lot to figure out, but I’m having a great time doing it!”